Update from our appointment in Seattle

Today we got to meet our new doctor in Seattle, WA. Her name is Dr. Thyer and our nurse’s name is Lora. They were both very wonderful and willing to explain everything to us. When we first got there they did the regular vitals. Then we got to meet our doctor and went to her office to talk about our history and what we would like to do.

After talking about our history she started to explain to us what she sees from our history. She confirmed the diagnosis of PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). She thinks that I am pretty far along in the prognosis since I’m showing problems with handling insulin and already having signs of hypertension. She explained the course of PCOS and the problems that come along with it. She said that she was going to do some labs to confirm what stage I am at. She talked about what they can do to help treat the disease. The main treatment is a very special diet at is focused on the course of PCOS, exercises, weight loss and meds.

I was already put on metformin as a treatment but my body did not take it well. She said that there was one other med that they can put me on but she wants to wait to see what the labs say and wait to see how these other things work first. Thankfully she went into stats without me even having to ask. We talked about it for quite some time about what we wanted to do. People at my BMI can be on drugs for a year and a half and only 10% of them will conceive. If I can also decrease my BMI it decreases our changes of having a mischarge. She was very knowledgeable about the disease and specializes in treating pts with PCOS.

So we made a hard decision. The baby thing is going to go on the back burner for at least 3 months but with the goal in mind of fewer treatments which equals less money and faster results. So for the next 3 months I am going to be working closely with this Nutritionist to work on a PCOS diet which is really going to be a life style change and hopefully with the change we will be able to decrease the about on fat my body wants to store. Due to the course of PCOS our bodies want to store more fat then normal. At my appointment we went over a typical day of eating and the first thing the doctor said was that I wasn’t eating enough. I have to start eating 6 small meals a day which is going to be very hard for me and change most of my food to protein food. The more protein the less fat my body is going to want to store. She said that since I am not eating enough that my body wants to store everything I eat which is why my fasting glucose level is so high. We are also hoping that if we get results it will also decease my hypertension….It would be so nice not having to take BP meds exspically at my age. She said that if the diet, exercise and meds do not work that I would need to see an endocrinologist to see what else they can do or what else is causing any problems.

We also talked about doing another surgery to remove the endometrium that has grown back at this time. Since exercises is one of the other key factors the surgery is becoming more realistic and needed now to decrease the daily amount of pain and fatigue. The doctor is going to wait for more paper work from South Dakota and then she will be talking to another doctor in the building about doing a surgery on me. She said that she was able to perform the surgery but since the endometriosis has gotten so serve and considering I’m already at stage 3 out of 4 she wants someone with more experience. The surgery could also increase our chances of becoming pregnant.

I have to call the doctor back in 2 to 3 weeks for a telephone appointment to go over my labs that they drew. It took 2 people to do my labs because they needed 8 things of blood to run the entire tests they needed. So before I talk to the doctor I have to get set up with the nutritionist to get set up on the PCOS diet and hopefully I can start getting my weight and BMI down. My goal is to get to a BMI of 35 which means I have to lose 40 pounds. But I’m going to get there and I would like to get there by the end of this year and need to get there due to the increase chances and decreased risks.

I am so thankful that I have 2 wonderful people up there who are going to be helping me. The doctor said that she agreed that I need that level of care. My last doctor never told me any of this other information and was never very informative. So hopefully by Jan of 2011 we can get everything straightened out with my body and get the surgery done if it’s necessary and hopefully will be on a good road to success…Plus Jacob will be happy because we will be able to go snowmobiling this year 

I’ll let you know if I hear anything else back otherwise I’ll post again after our phone appointment in 2 to 3 weeks.